I'm not ready to make nice either...

I watched the Dixie Chicks win 5 awards at the Grammy's. Talented, beautiful, women that have stood up for their right to freedom of speech, but were they right? Is it right to call the President of the United States names? Is it right to be disrespectful?

Here are some words from one of their songs that is pretty much saying, "I'm not sorry..."

I made by bed, and I sleep like a baby,
With no regrets and I don't mind saying,
It's a sad sad story That a mother will teach her daughter
that she ought to hate a perfect stranger.
And how in the world
Can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they'd write me a letter
Saying that I better
shut up and sing Or my life will be over

So Natalie says something that infuriates a lot of people and then she gets upset when people send her hateful letters. It seems to me she can dish it out, but she can't take it. If people have freedom of speech and she can call the George W. a "Fu--er" then why does she get upset when people say mean things to her? (I only heard that in the new film Shut up and Sing that Natalie refers to President George W. as an "Effer" this may not be true. )

She should be ready to make nice because that is what mature individuals do. You stand up for what you believe in and if you don't believe in something, you go about eradicating it the correct way, not with hateful comments or emotional outbursts.

America has rallied around the Dixie Chicks because they stood up for something and then they didn't back down despite all the opposition. In our culture, this makes you a hero, but it does not mean that you are a good person. And I am not saying that the Dixie Chicks aren't good people, it is just that I think they've used their platform to say things in a way that shouldn't have been said and then they got all up in arms when people were upset about it, as if people should have just sat back and applauded them for speaking their mind. Speaking your mind isn't always a good thing, on the contrary, most of the time it is better just to keep your mouth shut.

And while looking for some more information on this topic, I found this great comment from bloglubbock:

Okay let’s debunk this thing once and for all. Natalie Maines did not say, “We’re are ashamed the President took us to war.” That would have been a political statement. Instead, she said, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed that the President is from Texas.”

Compare these two statements and see if you can tell the difference. 1) “Natalie, you’re wrong. You shouldn’t have personally insulted the President as some kind of anti war statement.” Or 2) “Natalie, you stupid bitch.”

There is a tremendous difference between those statements. One is appropriate for public discourse. The other is not. Natalie Maines chose a personal insult rather than a true anti war protest. Her defenders have never understood that. …And they never will.

So yeah, I'm not ready to make nice either. I'm not ready to back down. I won't stand up and applaud the Dixie Chicks because I don't believe they were right. Can I respect them for making great music? Yes. I also respect Michael Jackson and his creative work, but I don't respect the choices he makes either.